Browsing: John Tortorella

Game 77. Rangers at Canucks. Alain Vigneault returns to Vancouver for his first regular-season game there as Canucks’ ex-head coach. The preseason game last fall, though, kind of takes some of the luster off the return, as do the previous meetings between the Rangers and John (Hot Seat) Tortorella.…

Thoughts: 1) Happy New Year! Whether 2013 was good, great, bad or horrible for you, here’s hoping that 2014 will be better. And the dawn of 2014 means one thing: Honeymooners Marathon!! It also means Winter Classic today at the Big House, and after the game, the naming of the…

Thoughts: 1) The homestand to hell. At some point, if not soon then later, the Rangers will rue the points they hacked up on this nine-gamer, whether it be the points that make them fight for their lives the final days of the season or the points that keep them…

Thoughts: 1) Where to begin? Well, that’s actually pretty simple. The Rangers have a ton of holes, they have a dearth of skill and they are soft. OK, fine. But none of that matters if the guy in the net doesn’t stop the puck. They can fix some of their…

Thoughts: 1) Let’s get right to this. I know it’s a popular theory, and I’m sure you can find dozens of news stories today saying so, but it’s a fantasy that John Tortorella hated Chris Kreider, or held him down. Kreider himself says it’s not real. Said yesterday that he…

Game 27. Canucks at Rangers. This game is all about the Trading Places coaches, John Tortorella and Alain Vigneault, but for the Rangers, this is a pretty big game. They finished a 3-2 road trip Friday, and it had a pretty ugly ending in a 3-2 loss in Boston.…

Thoughts: 1) Men vs. Boys. I am not 100 percent convinced the Rangers lost this game because of the way they were manhandled by the Bruins, but they were manhandled, and I am pretty certain that any best-of-seven series against a team like that is going to look like the…

Game 21. Bruins at Rangers. Ya boys pass the quarter-pole of the season with their first meeting since last spring’s playoff series, and they do it with all of their forwards available to coach Alain Vigneault for the first time this year — pre- or regular season. Rick Nash…

Happy Veterans Day. Thoughts: 1) J.T. Miller had jump right from his first shift. That was a pretty cool play on the 1-0 goal. Ryan McDonagh just grows every day in the offensive zone, and Chris Kreider is making plays he didn’t even make in that playoff coming-out party (I…

Here’s my preview from The Journal News and Lohud.com (unedited version): By Rick Carpiniello FORWARDS: If, if, if, if. The Rangers’ forward group will be better – and really, it must – if Brad Richards bounces back from the worst season of his career; if Derick Brassard proves he can…

A few things about practice today. Ryan Callahan said status quo, that he feels good, etc. The Rangers still say he won’t play in Game 1. Carl Hagelin will officially begin the season on Long Term Injured Reserve. So I expect the lineup for Game 1 at Phoenix will have…

There are positives. The exhibition games are over. The boys will get off the road. No one was hurt. They are tied for first place going into the regular season. And there are more than a few young players that will have an impact on this team. It might not…

Click here for my story on Derek Stepan signing a new two-year contract, from The Journal News and lohud.com. Thoughts: 1) Huge day for the Rangers Thursday. Not only did they re-sign Derek Stepan — Glen Sather, tough negotiator, wins again — but just as critical is that Ryan Callahan…

Game 4 of this 15-game trip. The preseason ends tomorrow in Las Vegas against the Kings. As you know, tonight the “traded” coaches face off against one another. And unless you’ve been under Mount Vancouver, you’ve heard by now that Derek Stepan today signed a two-year, $6.15 million contract. He…

We can discuss the new coach, the new system, the old GM, the old players, the new players, Derek Stepan, Brad Richards, yesterday’s demotions, the demotions yet to come, the opening-night lineup, the 15-game road trip (six preseason, nine regular-season), tonight’s Alain Vigneault-John Tortorella faceoff in Vancouver, and of course…

Thoughts: 1) Unrelated to this game, but there was a lot of chatter about helmets and fights and head injuries this week, and Gary Bettman talked about “player safety” again, and it always makes me wonder. Why in Holy Hell does the league allow players to wear their chinstraps down…

Thoughts: 1) Boy, Slats with that Borsalino was awfully tough on Derek Stepan in the taped interview on MSG. “He’s going to get paid, just not today.” Suggested he was “a fool” for listening to his agent. Classic old-school stuff. And I get it, that it’s playing the CBA and…

Cleaning up a few items. First, here’s my story on Scott Arniel and Derick Brassard from The Journal News and lohud.com today. More importantly, the other day Brad Richards was talking about his relationship with John Tortorella. He mumbled as he was saying, or intending to say, he said he…